Don't be fooled. Inside this thin coating of sweetness is a fiery core of total insanity.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Foliage Follow-up

One of the advantages of starting over with my garden has been that I can put together a garden that shows what stage of development I am at as a gardener. When I first started gardening, I was highly enamored of big flowers -- daylilies, lilies, rhodies, glads, etc. I slowly added other types of flowers, frothy ones, daisies, etc., working slowly on mixing and matching colors (and I never really mastered that).  It's only recently that I started noticing that foliage matters. Different shapes against one another, different colors, variegation, etc.

So I've been able to start out with foliage on my mind, rather than trying to shoehorn it into place in a garden that was already overgrown with too many plants (and weeds).

Anyway, with that said, here are some of my favorite foliage photos taken recently.

Water droplets on Lupine foliage.


And on Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)

When trying to add interesting foliage, Heucheras are hard to resist.

Heuchera 'Pistache'

Heuchera 'Miracle'

A favorite combo, Persicaria 'Red Dragon' with Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'

I love black mondo grass, although why it's still so expensive, when it's EVERYWHERE is beyond me. I had a hard time figuring out how to make it stand out. It's the same color as the soil, and was hard to see. So I planted it closely with some Sempervivums and Sedums, which I think works well.

Sempervivum 'Black" (A full frontal shot)

And from the side

Gold and purple/burgundy foliage are must-haves. Not exactly cutting edge, but new to me.

Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold'

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey'

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

Finally, Matteucia struthiopteris (ostrich fern) sterile fronds unfurling

I hope you enjoyed this look at some of the interesting foliage in my garden. Thanks for visiting!

Check out Pam's blog Digging for more Foliage posts.